Italian police said they had arrested 22 people and seized assets from villas to Rolexes worth over 600 million euros ($652 million) as part of an investigation into alleged fraud tied to European Union and Italian funding schemes.
Finance police in Venice said they believe the group, which operated in various European countries, sought to defraud the European Union’s COVID pandemic recovery fund and generous home improvement schemes introduced by Italy.
Police said they seized flats, villas, Rolex watches, Cartier jewellery, gold, cryptocurrencies and luxury cars such as a Lamborgini and a Porsche, in addition to some 600 million euros worth of illegitimate tax credits for home improvements.
Three people were arrested in Slovakia, two in Austria and 17 across Italy, police said, with searches also carried out in Romania.
The investigation will heighten fears that both the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and Italy’s own building schemes are proving a boon for fraudsters.
Italy has so far received almost 102 billion euros from the EU COVID recovery funds, with over 90 billion more expected by 2026.
